


I know it's my destiny

by unacaritafeliz



Series: The very best (Pokémon AU) [4]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: (the Pokemon are matchmaking), Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, Matchmaking, can be read as a standalone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:54:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29421165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unacaritafeliz/pseuds/unacaritafeliz
Summary: There’s no Parmesan cheese. Dex can’t have forgotten the Parmesan cheese. He’s making lasagne, Parmesan cheese is one of the most important ingredients in lasagne, there’s no way he didn’t buy it on his way home from work. He pushes things around the fridge, checking every inch of it but there’s absolutely no Parmesan cheese in sight. He’s such an idiot, Nursey's birthday is completely ruined because he didn’t buy the fucking Parmesan cheese.“Drowzee!” Drowzee calls loudly, sounding a little panicked herself, and Abra teleports into the refrigerator.[The Pokémon help Dex make a birthday dinner for Nursey, and do more than a little matchmaking along the way].
Relationships: Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter
Series: The very best (Pokémon AU) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1749160
Comments: 5
Kudos: 45





	I know it's my destiny

**Author's Note:**

> The other instalments are very cute, but if you don't want to read them here's the context: Drowzee and Growlithe moved into the Haus with Nursey and Dex respectively at the start of the junior year. The basement move still happened, but Dex asked to move to NYC with Nursey after graduation because he'd grown so fond of Drowzee. This fic takes place during Nursey's first birthday after graduating.

The apartment is dark and quiet when Dex lets himself in, three hours earlier than usual. He takes his shoes off, puts his groceries down in the kitchen, and goes looking for their little family of Pokémon, who are surprisingly not running around and playing havoc at the moment. They’re probably just saving their energy for causing chaos when he and Nursey are both around, he thinks.

He finds them in Nursey’s room, cuddled up in a pile in his bed and fast asleep. They look deceptively peaceful like this, and Dex can’t help pulling his phone out for a picture of them, immediately setting it as his phone lock screen. They might be a bunch of gremlins, but Dex knows they’re all honestly trying to do what they think is right for him and Nursey and he can’t hate them for it, as awkward and embarrassing as they make things sometimes.

And, besides... they’re really fucking cute.

“Hey,” Dex says, poking their ringleader gently in the cheek. “You gotta come bake with me.”

Drowzee opens her eyes and blinks at him. “Drowz…?” she asks, sleepy and confused.

“It’s Nursey’s birthday,” Dex tells her. “We gotta make him dinner.”

“Drowzee,” she agrees, sleepily. She opens her arms in a silent demand to be carried, and Dex rolls his eyes before picking her up and taking her to the kitchen on his hip. She’s a lot bigger than the tiny baby Drowzee he met during his sophomore year, but she still loves being carried around everywhere and neither Nursey nor Dex can ever deny her anything.

And to show her thanks, she gives Dex dreams about Nursey. Not sexy dreams, thank Arceus, but romantic dreams; mushy, sappy, romantic dreams where Nursey treats Dex so goddamn softly and Dex wakes up not even able to look his flatmate in the eye without turning as red as a lobster. He knows that Drowzee’s responsible for them, because he always wakes to see her watching him intently doing her strange little Drowzee dance. It’s a cute dance, and Dex knows she probably means well, and the dreams are not entirely unpleasant, but he kind wishes she would just let him sleep.

And he refuses to even think about the kind of dreams she could be showing Nursey.

“We’re going to make lasagne,” he tells her, placing her down next to the kitchen sink and pulling her tiny hands under the water, washing them with soap. “With garlic bread and salad. And then for dessert…”

“Drowzee!” she interrupts.

Dex grins and shuts the water off. “Of course,” he says.

Drowzee cheers, clapping her wet hands excitedly. Dex laughs, and moves her to the kitchen island, passing her a towel to dry her hands with. He takes down the chopping board from their cabinet, and places it in front of her, along with the onions, garlic and a knife. She immediately starts chopping everything into neat, even pieces, and Dex puts the perishable ingredients in the fridge and organises everything else while she does it.

Making lasagne for Nursey’s birthday dinner was an easy enough choice - it’s the only dish he knows where the Poindexter family recipe is better than any of Nursey’s various family recipes, even with the tweaks needed to make it halal, and is therefore the only dish Dex makes that Nursey really enjoys. It takes a little longer to make than anything he usually throws together for their dinner, but Dex thinks it’s worth it.

After all, Nursey had celebrated Dex’s last birthday by covering the vaccination and registration fees so that Dex could adopt the smallest of the Vulpix kittens they’d found abandoned in Central Park the previous week… The least Dex could do is take a half day from work to make a damn lasagne for him.

Vulpix comes over to wind herself around Dex’s legs as he puts the onion and garlic and ground beef in the pan and begins sauteing, sliding the basil and parsley over to Drowzee for her to chop while they could. Dex picks Vulpix up with one arm while stirring the meat, and she nuzzles against his chest. She’s so cute that it’s easy to forgive her for burning down his bed last month, forcing him to share with Nursey for a week while they waited for his replacement to arrive.

Dex knows that she’s a baby and is still learning to control her fire, but he absolutely does not believe it was an accident. And the way that Drowzee had looked at him as he’d gotten into Nursey’s bed to sleep had let him know exactly who was the ringleader of the whole charade. Still he supposes he should just be grateful that no one got hurt, and that the bed was the only thing that got damaged during the fire.

And… well… sharing a bed with Nursey wasn’t completely awful anyway. Cuddling with Nursey had actually been kind of nice, regardless of how mortified Dex had been upon waking up with Nursey in his arms.

“I might need some help from you and Growlithe later, okay?” Dex tells her. “But you can just hang out for now.”

“Vulpix!” she agrees, and jumps out of his arm to curl up on the countertop, just next to the cooktop, with her head resting on her paws. Dex reaches out to scratch behind her ears, feeling very fond. He had never felt the need for a second Pokémon, but he’d fallen in love with her the minute he’d seen her and has loved her more every day since.

“Drowzee!” Drowzee calls, and Dex turns around to see she’s finished chopping up the herbs. The meat still needs to cook a little more, before he adds them, but there’s still plenty more to do to get the dinner ready.

“Thanks, Drowzee!” he says. He quickly runs the tomato, cucumber and red onion under the kitchen tap and pushes them towards her. “Can you chop these for the salad, please?”

“Drowz!” she agrees, and turns around to start.

Dex finishes cooking the meat and adds the various herbs and tomatoes to the saucepan, setting the lid on it to let it simmer. It’ll take an hour and a half to simmer, but Dex knows from experience how quickly that time can go when he’s got so much to do. He quickly clears the rubbish from the kitchen table, making sure to rinse the tomato cans so they can go in the recycling just like Nursey always tells him, and pulls the rhubarb out of the fridge.

“Drowzee,” he says, reverently, bowing down to present her the stalk. She’s already finished making the salad. “Will you do the honours?”

“Drowzee!” she yells, happily, making grabby hands for it. He passes it to her and she pushes her salad ingredients away to start chopping it.

Dex lays out the rest of the pie ingredients on the counter for her and gets started on the dough, occasionally pausing to stir the simmering meat sauce. At this point, Drowzee could probably make the whole pie on her own, but Dex has always liked making pies. He likes the methodical nature of it, and the way his hands feel working the dough and, of course, the memories of all the conversations he’d have while making pie with Bitty and Mr. Mime. He’d never be the person he is today without those conversations, or without Nursey and Drowzee moving into the Haus, and his life. They made him want to be a better person, and he really hopes he's succeeding at it.

There’s always been something extra special about making a rhubarb pie for Nursey too. He still gets so excited about them, even though Bitty and Dex have made him dozens over the past few years, and the way they make his green eyes light up at the sight of one makes Dex fall in love with him all over again. So yeah, Dex wants to be a part of the pie making process. He can’t let Drowzee have all the fun, or all of Nursey's affection.

Once he’s happy with the consistency of the pie crust, Dex rolls it half of it into a circle on the floured tabletop and goes to get the pie tin from the cupboard. When he gets back, Natu is standing on the edge of the bowl he’s using, staring at him. Natu does that a lot, staring at people. It’s a bit unnerving, and makes Dex feel like he’s reading all his innermost thoughts. Though, all their Pokémon seem to know all of Dex’s innermost thoughts, considering they all keep trying to set him up with Nursey.

“Hello, Natu,” he says, rolling the dough onto his rolling pin. “Are you here to help me with this pie?”

“Natu!” Natu replies, and hops off the bowl, hopping all the way up Dex’s arm and onto his head. Natu does this with everyone, but Dex can’t help but feel a little bit chosen whenever he does it to him.

Dex rolls the pastry into the pie tin, still not as neatly as Bitty or Mr. Mime does it, and turns to look at Drowzee, who’s proudly holding up her bowl of completed rhubarb filling. Dex’s heart swells with adoration and pride. He can’t believe he ever didn’t like her, when she’s now one of the most precious things in his life.

Kind of like her trainer, Dex thinks.

“Great work, Drowzee!” Dex says, taking the bowl from her. She claps her hands happily at the praise. “Help me pour it in.”

Together they tip the filling into the pie tin, Natu jumping up onto the bowl to help, and Vulpix loudly encouraging them from her place next to the cooktop. Drowzee dots the pie with butter as Dex quickly rolls out the pastry for the top crust and puts it on top, letting Natu hop around the edges to seal the pie shut. Dex slashes some neat vents in the top and looks at their creation, appraisingly. It could be prettier, but none of them have the time to fuss with fancy pastry leaves or a lattice top today. He knows Nursey will appreciate it anyway.

He sets the pie on top of the fridge since they’ll cook it after the lasagne comes out, and checks on his meat sauce. It still looks pretty good, so he quickly washes up the pie making utensils so he can continue with the lasagne. He briefly wishes that Blastoise was here to help with the clean up. It’d mean that Chowder would be here too, which Dex would really appreciate. Living with Nursey and their assorted Pokémon is great, but Dex really misses his best friend sometimes.

Chowder’s the only human who knows how much effort and planning has gone into this birthday dinner, aside from Farmer who has no concept of privacy and always listens in on their video calls. The two of them had listened to Dex’s plans with raised eyebrows, and then not-so-subtly suggested that Dex “make a fucking move already”. They hadn’t liked Dex’s suggestion that Nursey is the one that needs to do that, even though Dex knows he’s right.

Dex has been shitty enough to Nursey in the past to know that Nursey needs to decide their next move, whatever that move may be. Dex doesn’t ever want to do anything to upset Nursey again, doesn’t want to accidentally jeopardise their slowly recovering friendship, by trying to be more than what Nursey wants or needs. He’ll do what he can to atone for his mistakes and let Nursey know that he cares, and their Pokémon will do increasingly ridiculous things to push them together, but Nursey will have to be the person that eventually does something about it.

And if he doesn’t? Well, Nursey’s still Dex’s second best friend and his favourite flatmate and d-man, not to mention the trainer of three of Dex’s five favourite Pokémon. Dex still cares about him, and wants him to be happy, even a romantic relationship isn't a possibility. And he still deserves a fantastic birthday dinner.

With everything washed, the next thing to do is to make the bechamel sauce. Dex pulls the flour from the cupboard, and goes to the fridge to get out the butter, milk and…

There’s no Parmesan cheese. Dex can’t have forgotten the Parmesan cheese. He’s making lasagne, Parmesan cheese is one of the most important ingredients in lasagne, there’s no way he didn’t buy it on his way home from work. He pushes things around the fridge, checking every inch of it but there’s absolutely no cheese. He’s such an idiot, Nursey's birthday is completely ruined because he didn’t buy the fucking Parmesan cheese.

“Drowz?” asks a concerned voice from behind him.

“I don’t have Parmesan cheese,” Dex says. “How am I supposed to make fucking lasagne without Parmesan cheese? I’m so fucking...”

“Drowzee!” Drowzee calls loudly, sounding a little panicked herself, and Abra teleports into the refrigerator.

Dex blinks. Abra’s pretty good at teleporting, considering she takes both Nursey and Dex to work every day, as well as to most of their extracurricular and social activities. Sure, she somehow always manages to teleport Dex so he lands right on top of Nursey, or vice versa, but Dex has always assumed that’s just because she’s a gremlin with an agenda, and not due to a lack of responsibility or talent.

They’ve never really sent her on an errand by herself before, but Dex is just desperate enough to try.

“Do you think you can do me a favour?” Dex asks.

“Abra!” she agrees.

Sending her to the store seems like it’ll be too overwhelming and confusing for her, but she’s visited Nursey’s family before, so Dex quickly writes out a note and gives it to her, telling her to try Nursey’s sister first, and then his moms, and then his dad and step-mom, and to absolutely not go anywhere near Nursey, please. She nods and promptly disappears.

Dex takes a deep breath. One of Nursey's various family members is sure to have Parmesan cheese, and if they don't then Dex will just deal with it. Surely there's some sort of frozen cheese in the freezer that Dex can make do with, even if it produces a substandard meal and that ruins Nursey's birthday and proves that Dex will never be good enough for him.

"Growlithe!" calls a voice from near Dex's legs, and Dex bends down to wrap his arms around his Pokémon, taking comfort in the warmth of his best friend.

"You always know just what I need, don't you, buddy?" Dex says into Growlithe's fur.

And he always does. Whether it was growling at Dex’s fake friends in high school, or falling asleep on Nursey’s lap the week after Dex moved into the basement, Growlithe has always known that his trainer needed before Dex knew it himself. He’s kind, and insightful and he always knows how to put Dex at ease.

Or, he usually does, at least. He definitely hadn’t put Dex at ease that one time Nutsey had a coworker over for dinner and Growlithe had barked at her so much they’d had to go to a restaurant instead. That had been embarrassing, and a little counterproductive, if Dex is being honest. Still, Growlithe’s support right now is enough for Dex to pull himself together, and to try to salvage this lasagne the best he can.

He puts the butter in a saucepan and passes it to Growlithe to melt, before going to the freezer to take stock of the frozen cheese. It'll be a bit underwhelming but it will do, and if Dex puts enough of the mozzarella on top then the lasagne will probably taste fine, even without the Parmesan. He takes the butter from Growlithe and mixes flour into it, puts it on the stove and gradually starts adding the milk.

Suddenly, there's a weight on his head and something covering his eyes.

Abra.

She has the cheese as requested, and a note from Farrah Nurse that makes Dex blush. He didn't think Farrah would ever call him out about his crush on her brother, even though she obviously has always known. Farrah's very perceptive, and also very used to people having a crush on her brother considering said brother is the most attractive boy in existence. And also the nicest, smartest and most talented, because Nursey had to take all the good traits and leave nothing for plebs like Dex.

"Thank you," he says, smacking a kiss on Abra’s forehead in gratitude. He’s almost sorry that he yelled at her that time she teleported him directly into Nursey's bed in the middle of the night for no discernible reason, but he’s not really that sorry because that was still awkward as hell.

Dex adds the cheese to his sauce and stirs it in. He adds salt and pepper and dips his little finger in to taste. It's delicious and the meat is done too, so it's time to layer up. He looks around at their Pokémon, smiling when he notices that Drowzee made the garlic bread and salad while he was distracted.

"Who wants to help me layer?" he asks, and is answered by a cacophony of names. Even though none of them will actually help, Dex still takes the time to carry them all over to the same kitchen bench, placing them next to the lasagne pan so they can all watch as he neatly layers in the meat sauce, white sauce, pasta sheets and mozzarella into the pan.

"Drowzee!" Drowzee says approvingly when he's done, and the rest of the Pokémon eagerly back her up. Dex loves them so much, even though they're all chaotic gremlins that make his life difficult sometimes. Their love and support means the world to him.

He pops the lasagne in the oven. It should be done in about thirty minutes, which is also when Nursey will get back from work. He rushes to clean the pans and the kitchen, with little to no help from their Pokémon, before rushing to change into something a little nicer for dinner. He knows he won’t look nearly as nice as Nursey regardless of what he wears, but he puts on a nice button-up and his best chinos, and puts some water in his hair so he can brush it somewhat into place. He gets back to the kitchen just in time to take the lasagne out of the oven and throw the garlic bread and pie in.

“Abra!” he says, putting his hands on her little shoulders and looking her right in the eye. “Please, I beg you, for once in your life, teleport Nursey into his bedroom and not on top of me. I really want this to be a surprise, okay?”

“Abra!” she yells and disappears. A moment later, there’s noise from Nursey’s bedroom and Dex sighs in relief.

Dex sets the table for seven, takes the wine out of the cupboard, gets Growlithe to light the candles, and serves the PokéFood. . They can all taste a spoonful of the lasagne if they want to, but the majority of their meal still needs to be their own individually formulated food from Bitty's PokéFood line. Drowzee might complain about it, but Dex prefers his Pokémon to eat a properly balanced diet, and he knows Nursey feels the same way

Dex takes the garlic bread from the oven and is just moving it to the table along with the lasagne and salad when Nursey steps out from his room, wearing a pale green button-up shirt and carrying Abra in his arms.

“Yo,” he says. “I’m home.”

And the Pokémon pounce on him.

Dex can’t help pulling his camera out again to get a picture as Nursey, kneeling on the floor, tries to wrap his arms around Drowzee, Growlithe, Abra and Vulpix at the same time, while Natu hops up into his curls. Dex takes a photo and the shutter sound goes off because Dex is an idiot who forgets to mute his phone sometimes. Nursey looks up, one perfectly sculptured eyebrow raised, and Dex takes another photo, even as his face flushes red.

“Happy birthday,” Dex says.

“Thanks,” Nursey replies, smiling. He stands up and walks to the table, Naty in his hair, Vulpix cuddled in his arms and the others trailing behind him. Dex feels his traitorous heart flip at the sight. “What’s this?”

“What?” Dex asks, raising his own eyebrow back at his dman. “You really thought I wouldn’t make you a birthday dinner? I really thought we’d stopped undervaluing each other, Nurse.”

Nursey laughs. “I wasn’t expecting a whole-ass lasagne from scratch, Dexy” he says, checking Dex lightly with his hip, carefully not disrupting the Pokémon in his arms. “This must have taken you ages.”

Dex flushes again. “It was no trouble,” he says.

Dex serves the food and wine while Nursey helps get all the Pokémon into their eating chairs, muttering sweet nonsense and kissing their heads as he goes. Dex can't help but smile - of all of Nursey's wonderful qualities, the sweet way he is with Pokémon is perhaps Dex's favourite.

Nursey and Dex sit down and clink their glasses together in cheers. Dex takes a sip of wine and watches as Nursey cuts a small bite of lasagne and puts it in his mouth. His eyes immediately light up.

"This is so fucking good, Dexy," Nursey says, and Dex smiles, pleased. Taking a half day from work was definitely worth it, just for this.

"I'm glad you like it," he says, as he sticks his fork into his own meal.

Conversation flows easily over dinner, as Nursey talks about the new manuscripts he'd read over that day, and his workplace’s new policies to increase the diversity of the books they published, and the phone call he’d had with his moms. As always, Dex and the Pokémon are more than happy to listen to Nursey speak, but Dex offers up stories of his own day when Nursey asks, unable to deny him anything.

“What’s for dessert?” Nursey asks excitedly, when Dex gets up partway through the meal to check on the pie in the oven.

Dex rolls his eyes. “As if you don’t know.”

Neither Nursey nor Dex eat as much as they did when they were division one NCAA athletes, but they still eat more than half the lasagne between them, as well as all of the bread and salad. Dex lingers at the table, sipping his third glass of wine, feeling happy and content after the food and conversation.

“I can wash up today,” Nursey says, draining his wine. It’s only his second glass; he’s only just turned 23 but his days of binge drinking and table dancing are already behind him. “You’ve done more than enough work cooking.”

Dex pushes Nursey back into his chair with a hand on his shoulder that lingers slightly longer than necessary. “It’s your birthday,” he says. “I’ve got this.”

He quickly washes the dinner plates and puts them in the drying rack. He takes the bowls, spoons and whipped cream to the table before calling Growlithe back into the kitchen with him. Growlithe helps light a sparkler and they carry it out to Nursey, and everyone joins in singing happy birthday, which is mostly just their Pokémon repeatedly saying their names in loud, off-key voices.

But Nursey’s grinning as he looks around the table, the faintest of blushes visible on his dark cheeks. When his eyes meet Dex’s they soften, and Dex feels something jump in his chest at the sight.

The pie is delicious as always and they eat half of it between the seven of them. Nursey starts up a cute game with Vulpix where he sprays whipped cream onto her nose and she tries to lick it off with her tongue. It’s unreasonably adorable.

Dex clears the table again once they’re done, and Nursey takes over the nighttime routines for the Pokémon. Technically, the Pokémon all have a bedtime by which they’re supposed to be asleep in whichever trainer’s room they choose, but none of them ever adhere to it, staying up to gossip and plan mischief, and even execute it sometimes, long after Nursey and Dex have both gone to bed themselves.

Dex has finished putting away all the dishes and is just sitting down on the couch to relax when Nursey emerges from his room, looking tired but as happy and gorgeous as usual.

“Yo,” he says, sitting at the opposite end of the couch.

“Yo,” Dex repeats, smiling.

“I can’t thank you enough for the dinner, Dex,” Nursey says. “It really means a lot, especially since my family couldn’t celebrate with us until the weekend.”

Personally, Dex doesn’t believe that all of Nursey’s parents, grandparents and siblings were too busy to hang out with Nursey on his birthday, believing instead that they’re in cahoots with Drowzee and her mischievous plans to push Nursey and Dex together at every possible moment. Still he can’t complain, since it allows him to share these wonderful moments with Nursey.

“It’s just a lasagne, Nurse,” Dex says. “But I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“It’s not just a lasagne, Poindexter,” says Nursey. “You put a lot of time and effort into doing something nice for my birthday, and I really appreciate it.”

Dex flushes at the praise. He and Nursey have certainly come a long way from how they used to be in the freshman and sophomore year, back when they wouldn’t put effort into each other for anything except ice time, and would purposefully misconstrue every sentence the other said, just to start a fight.

“I had help from the gang of gremlins,” Dex says, quietly. “And besides, you set a precedent for birthday presents when you helped me adopt Vulpix.”

Nursey shakes his head. “That was just money,” he says.

“It wasn’t just money,” Dex interrupts, because he never saw that way. He saw it as Nursey helping Dex expand his family, Nursey seeing Dex wanting something and getting it for him immediately, Nursey looking after Dex in the best of possible ways. “It was very thoughtful of you, Nursey. And it meant a lot to me.”

“And this means a lot to me,” Nursey says. “So just shut up and take the compliment, Poindexter.”

Dex rolls his eyes, smiling as he looks away from Nursey. This new style of arguing is much more enjoyable than the ones they used to have as underclassmen back in college, though they leave Dex just as flustered, even if it’s for very different reasons.

“Hey, Will?” Nursey calls, softly.

Dex turns, startled by Nursey’s use of his real name. Nursey’s still on the other side of the couch, but his eyes are alight. There’s so many emotions on his face that Dex can’t even read them properly.

“So, I, uh, hope I’m not reading this wrong,” says Nursey. “But the Pokémon have been acting like we... and my ma said, which I mean she’s wrong a lot of the time anyway so what she says doesn’t matter, but you made me this lasagne which you would’ve had to take time off work to make and…”

Suddenly Nursey disappears, rematerialising a split second later right in front of Dex. Dex jerks backward in shock, but Nursey’s hands come up to his waist to keep him steady. Their faces are so close and Dex can’t breathe. He thinks he knows what’s happening, thinks he knows what Nursey was about to say, but he can’t let himself get his hopes up. He needs Nursey to say it.

“I think Abra is telling me to get on with it,” Nursey says, quietly.

Dex’s eyes dart between Nursey’s, searching. He can’t find anything in them that he doesn’t like. “So get on with it, Derek,” he replies, just as quiet.

Nursey dips his head and kisses him softly, right on the fucking mouth.

It’s over in seconds, but it sets Dex’s entire body alight. He wonders if this is how Growlithe and Vulpix feel all the time, like there’s fire in their veins, searching for a way out.

"Was that okay?” Nursey whispers in the space between them.

Dex takes Nursey's face in both hands and kisses him again.

It's a soft kiss at first, but it quickly grows into something more passionate than a first kiss should be. It fits them though, it's an extension of both their friendship and their arguments, explosive and all consuming, pushing at all Dex’s buttons with minimal effort. It's the culmination of five years of pent up emotions, and nothing has ever felt so right to Dex before.

A part of him still can't believe he's allowed to kiss Nursey like this, even as he does.

Dex isn't sure how much time passes before they pull apart. Nursey looks flushed and gorgeous and happy, and Dex's heart thrills at the sight of him. Nursey's eyes flicker away from Dex's for a moment, and his smile softens into something sweeter and more fond.

"We've got an audience," Nursey says, nodding his head to behind Dex.

Dex turns around to see Growlithe, Drowzee, Vulpix, Abra and Natu hovering in the hallway, matching delighted expressions on their faces. Dex smiles at them fondly. He owes them all so much.

"Alright, you gremlins," he says. "Come here."

Abra teleports there first but the rest get there soon enough, climbing onto the couch to smother Nursey and Dex with their love. Dex pulls Drowzee and Growlithe into his arms, hugging them tight. He owes them the most; for making friends with each other's trainers when Nursey and Dex couldn't make friends themselves, pulling Nursey and Dex together when they were desperately trying to stay apart.

"Okay," Nursey says, after a few moments of joyful snuggling. "Go to bed. For real this time."

Growlithe licks Nursey's cheek and the Pokémon run off towards the bedrooms, chatting happily as they go. Nursey exhales happily, reaching down to take Dex's hand in his.

“This okay?” he asks.

Dex smiles. He feels like he’ll never stop smiling. “It’s okay,” he says, squeezing Nursey’s fingers tightly. “I’ve been wanting you to do that for a long time.”

“Yeah?” Nursey asks, smiling. “Maybe you should’ve made a move, Poindexter.”

Dex shakes his head. “I was waiting to see how you felt about it,” he admits. “I didn’t want to push you into something you didn’t want, or make you feel uncomfortable around me again.”

Nursey exhales a laugh. “I thought you might like me too, but I didn’t want to be presumptuous,” he says. “It wouldn’t be the first time I misinterpreted what we meant to each other.”

Dex feels like Blastoise has just drenched him in water. It makes complete sense that Nursey would feel apprehensive about it, and he feels terrible he didn't do anything to reassure Nursey sooner. He tries to pull away from Nursey, but Nursey’s fingers keeps him in place.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry,” he says. “Of course you would think about it like that! I wasn’t thinking, Derek I am…”

“Yo, chill, Dexy," Nursey says. “It’s okay. You haven’t said or done anything to make me feel like that in a long time. You’ve really changed, Will. And I really like the person you’ve become.”

Dex smiles. “You’ve changed a lot too, but I don’t think that’s why I like you so much now,” he says. “I think I just finally started seeing you for who you actually were, instead of who I thought you were. Drowzee helped a lot too.”

Nursey laughs. “We owe them all a lot, don’t we?”

“Yeah,” says Dex. “We do.”

He leans in to kiss Nursey again, just because he can. It’s a little more gentle than before, but it still sets Dex on fire.

“I really like you, Derek,” he says, when he pulls back. “I’m sorry it took me so long to let you know.”

Nursey smiles. “It’s okay, Will,” he says, pressing a chaste kiss to Dex’s lips. “At least we got here, in the end. And in time for Valentine’s, no less.”

Dex shakes his head. “Let’s do Valentine’s tomorrow,” he says. “Today’s your birthday.”

“Yeah?” Nursey asks. “You gonna let me wine and dine you, Dexy?”

Dex rolls his eyes. He’s sure the effect is ruined by the fact he’s beaming. “Yeah,” he says, going for casual and missing it by a mile. “I guess.”

Derek beams. “Chill,” he says, and Dex leans in to kiss the smug smile off his lips.

They stay on the couch for a little longer, trading stories and kisses until they can’t stay up any longer. They walk into their shared bathroom hand in hand and brush their teeth side by side at the sink. They’ve done it before, of course, but it feels so much more domestic now.

When they're done, they head to the bedrooms. The Pokémon are all sleeping in Nursey's bed so Dex tugs Nursey towards his own room. He's not ready for more than kissing just yet, but he's also not ready to let Nursey go.

"Just to sleep," he whispers, just in case Nursey gets the wrong idea.

"Chill," says Nursey with a gorgeous grin. "I know."

They lock the door and strip out of their clothes, both changing into pairs of Dex's old sweatpants and old Samwell t-shirts stolen from Ransom or Holster. They climb into bed, Nursey gently coaxing Dex around to be the little spoon.

"Goodnight, Derek," Dex whispers.

"Goodnight, Will," Nursey whispers back.

Dex shuts his eyes and suddenly there's a weight on him. He opens his eyes to see all five of their Pokémon in bed with them, obviously teleported in with Abra.

Dex laughs and settles down to sleep. He hopes Drowzee gives them some good dreams tonight.

**Author's Note:**

> Dex never bothered to look it up, but Drowzee don’t create dreams, they eat dreams and then show those eaten dreams to other people they love and trust. Those romantic dreams she showed Dex? Half of them were Nursey’s and the other half were HIS OWN BRAIN MAKING THEM UP AND BLAMING DROWZEE.
> 
> Anyway this brings us to the end of the Pokémon AU! I honestly never expected to write more than the initial fic, but I’ve enjoyed writing it and I really hope you enjoyed reading it. Please leave me a comment and HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEREK NURSE!!


End file.
